Penalty discount becomes key battleground in election campaign

The penalty discount has become one of the most heated disputes of the election campaign, with Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson accusing Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson of failing women subjected to rape and violence. SVT reported the dispute.

“Ulf Kristersson wants to drive this issue into the ground,” SVT political reporter Kristoffer Törnmalm said.

The Moderates are running an intensive campaign accusing the Social Democrats of opposing the abolition of the penalty discount. A secretly taken photograph of Andersson voting against the government parties’ proposal has been shared on social media and featured on an election poster in Stockholm.

The dispute flared up again before Wednesday’s party leaders’ debate on SVT. In a letter, Kristersson accused Andersson of “not standing up for all the women who have been subjected to violence and rape and who are forced to meet their perpetrators in the street”.

Andersson, in turn, accused Kristersson of spreading outright lies.

“I want to abolish the penalty discount for sexual offences and serious violent crimes as quickly as possible. He is using one of the worst things a woman can experience as a weapon in the political debate. That is unworthy of a prime minister,” she said.

What is the dispute about?

Kristersson’s claim that the Social Democrats voted against the Tidö parties’ proposal to abolish the penalty discount in general is correct. It is also correct that the Social Democrats want to abolish the discount for sexual offences, but through their own approach.

The Social Democrats argue that the government’s proposal, which the party calls “a completely unrealistic pipe dream”, would be too expensive and difficult to implement.

The party has received some support from consultation bodies, which have pointed out, among other things, that there are not enough prison places. The Council on Legislation has also criticised the short period allowed to investigate the proposal.

The Social Democrats therefore want to begin by abolishing the penalty discount for sexual and violent offences. The party says this would make abolishing the discount for sexual offences realistic during the next parliamentary term.